Wednesday, July 09, 2014

On July 8, 2014, Grand Canyon National Park Superintendent Dave Uberuaga formally dedicated the 1956 Grand Canyon TWA-United Airlines Aviation Accident Site. Wikipedia has a great synopsis of the crash here. At an event that was covered by the NBC affiliate in Phoenix and the Associated Press, about 200 people attended the ceremony. Below is an image of the printed program that was distributed at the event. You will notice that the names of all 128 persons who perished in this tragic collision are listed on the left hand side.

When I first began working at the Grand Canyon in the mid-1970's, one of the first impressions I got was when I was perusing the Park's collection of slide photographs. The first set of slides I encountered were the ones associated with the recovery of the wreckage and the bodies a few days later. I instantly felt a connection to this event. Now I am even more connected to it.

The Park Service requested that someone from the Grand Canyon Historical Society give remarks at this event. I serve as the President of the Society and was glad to give remarks, which are included at the end of this posting.

Here are some of the pictures I took at this historic occasion.

Milton Tso provided the opening music on a gorgeous summer day at Desert View

Ron Lee is the District Director for Congresswoman Ann Kirkpatrick

Clint Chandler represented the office of Senator Jeff Flake

Glen Miller is the Acting Western Regional Administrator for the Federal Aviation Administration

Mike Nelson, who has just written a book called "We Are Going In." His uncle was one of the victims on the United plane and he told an outstanding story from the book.

Superintendent Dave Uberuaga in front of the plaque that will be mounted on a rock at Desert View. A miniature of this exact plaque will be given to the family members.

Researcher Ben Carver of Northern Arizona University (left) who has studied the crash and NPS ranger Ian Hough who spearheaded to the nomination process which took about 8 years to complete and finalize.

Standing with Superintendent Uberuaga

Behind the plaque is the general location of the crash site

Louis Hudgin (left) was a small boy when the crash happened and his family owned Grand Canyon Airlines at the time. It was his father and uncle who flew over the canyon late in the evening of June 30, 1956 and located the crash site.

Ray Cook (left) also lost his father in the crash and was 10 years old at the time. He sits here with Mike Nelson.

Comments given by Wayne Ranney,

President of the Grand Canyon Historical Society at the Dedication

July 8, 2014

Good morning
everyone and welcome to Grand Canyon National Park. My name is Wayne Ranney and
I am the President of the Grand Canyon Historical Society – established in 1984
by a group of dedicated Grand Canyon residents who wished to preserve the rich
and colorful human history of the Grand Canyon. In the 30-year existence of our
Society we have endeavored to keep the memory of the many human successes and
failures, that have occurred at this iconic landscape, in focus for future
generations. Ours is not a Society that merely preserves old photographs or
dusty texts, but one that puts history in clear view so that people today can
learn from the past. I guess that is why the National Park Service so
graciously and thoughtfully asked our organization to be a part of this
dedication. I am honored to represent the Society here today and we are honored
that the National Park Service has chosen to include us at this important
dedication. We have never forgotten the scope and scale of this horrific
accident in the skies over Grand Canyon.

A little over
one week ago on June 30, we commemorated the 58th anniversary of the
mid-air collision of two airliners over Grand Canyon – TWA Flight 2 and United
Airlines Flight 718. Memorial wreaths were laid at both mass gravesites in
Flagstaff and Grand Canyon. About fifty family members came, some for the first
time since the accident. Sons and daughters of the victims, grandchildren and
great-grand children were here to remember. In most respects it was a happy
event but in every sense it was a moving and heart-rending occasion. I was
amazed that after 58 years that anyone involved with the crash would bother to
come at all. But such is the depth to which this tragedy cut into the lives of
thousands of people.

One of the themes
that we continually heard last week was how the crash severely and negatively
impacted the lives of so many family members, such as spouses and children, who
were left behind in the wake of a disaster, which rippled outward much farther
than the 128 people who lost their lives that fateful day. In the innocent and
naïve decade of the 1950’s the people living with the loss of loved ones were
expected to be strong, stand tall, and perhaps pretend that it never really
happened and would just go away. Perhaps that was an equal part of the tragedy
– that many of these people had few places to turn to, to express their grief
or feel the depth of their loss.

In the years
following the crash the National Park Service reacted to the event in much the
same way. I saw this first hand when I became a ranger at Grand Canyon only 20
years after the accident. Like a lot of family members who were profoundly
wounded, the National Park Service employees and residents of Grand Canyon
Village couldn’t believe it happened here and wished it would just go away. Two
after-crash clean up projects were undertaken to repair the landscape below us
but little was done to repair the broken hearts or shattered lives left across
a country of 169 million people in 1956.

And then remarkably,
eight and a half years ago in late 2005, a chance luncheon in Flagstaff between
my wife, Helen Ranney of the Grand Canyon Association and historian Richard
Quartaroli of Northern Arizona University, started a conversation that everyone
felt was appropriate and timely – to hold a commemoration event in Grand Canyon
Village on the 50th anniversary of the mid-air collision, June 30th,
2006. I think the National Park Service was as surprised as the rest of us to
see every seat in the Shrine of the Ages Auditorium taken by people from
everywhere who just wanted to honor the people who were lost, recall and
remember the tragedy, and touch a piece of history. At that commemoration, we
were all touched when two family members showed up, Ray Cook who lost his father
on the United Airlines flight and ­­­Sally Gauthier who lost her father on TWA
(please stand).

That event
hosted by the Grand Canyon Association eight years ago changed everything related to this
accident at Grand Canyon National Park. It began a process whereby the accident
could be viewed in the context of the present without the shadows or the pain
of the past. The National Park Service completely reversed course on its long
silence and began to understand the accident not merely as a scar upon the
landscape but also as a scar upon the hearts of loved ones who needed
remembrance, acknowledgment, and closure. Bravo to the National Park Service
today for acknowledging that this event is an important piece of Grand Canyon
and United States history! I want to thank everyone with the National Park
Service, the Grand Canyon Historical Society, the Grand Canyon Association,
both airlines, and the Federal Aviation Administration who made this
designation possible. But especially let us thank Rangers Ian Hough and Jan
Balsom who spearheaded the drive to make this happen. Without their personal
understanding of the crash and their professional commitment to see something
done, we would not be here today.

Three minutes –
that was the elapsed time between take off for both of the planes. How many
times people must have thought if they had only been delayed just a few more
seconds somewhere on their path toward the Painted Desert VOR line that
stretched 200 miles between Bryce Canyon to the north and Winslow to the south.
Just a few more seconds would have prevented this crash. But the truth is, if
this accident didn't happen here at 10:31 AM on June 30, 1956, it would have
happened somewhere else not long afterward. With the benefit of 58 years of
reflection we can now see that as a people we were giddy with our technological
ability to fly cross-country and that our enthusiasm for flight far outpaced
the need to better regulate the sky for air traffic. In some unthinkable way,
this accident needed to happen so that the skies above us could become better
organized for the safety, speed, and modern lifestyle we take for granted
today. Regulations, especially federal ones, often get a bad rap these days but
let this tragedy be a reminder to us all what the results can be when there is
too little of it.

On behalf of the
nearly 300 members of the Grand Canyon Historical Society, we welcome you to
Grand Canyon National Park today and we honor the family members here who have
lived without a sense of closure for these 58 years. We hope that all of you
will take this opportunity to meet these family members who are here with us
(show of hands please), talk with National Park Service representatives (in
uniform) and with Grand Canyon Historical Society members (show of hands
please) about the National Historic Landmark designation of the accident site.
We remember those lost and we thank everyone for being here today."

2 comments:

Wish I could have been there for the dedication, Wayne. I'm so happy that this took place. Do you know if Bud Dunagan was present? He was the Deputy Sheriff who responded to the site back in '56 and still has some amazing stories about it. He lives in Williams.

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I am a geologist, a writer, a river and trail guide and a traveler. Everything seems right when I am on a trail or river watching the earth spin - my cares and worries disappear, my body and mind get exercise, and there is nothing to disturb the ebb and flow of life. Out there is where ideas come to me, where stories flow through me like the rivers that carry me towards home. Now and then, I post ramblings on geology, life in the west and on a living planet, and travels across the globe. Life is good, if only we'd take the time to understand that.

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The Grand Canyon...

I lead geology- and hiking-themed river trips in the Grand Canyon

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This photo is from a helicopter shoot over Canyonlands in 2009 for a National Geographic TV documentary. Other shoots were for The Discovery Channel, The History Channel, PBS Phoenix, and others

San Francisco Peaks Stratovolcano

North of the San Francisco Peaks near my hometown in Flagstaff, Arizona

A Colorado Plateau Look-Alike

Believe it or not in southern Pakistan

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Perito Moreno Glacier, January, 2008

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Giza in Egypt

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In 2007 I climbed with friends to the Everest Base Camp

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An interesting and beautiful place

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